Today, we woke up in Clarkston, Washington, and met up on the upper deck for our morning stretch class, before breakfast. A high pressure has been sitting over the Pacific Northwest for quite some times, and our days have been filled with sunshine, blue sky, and beautiful fall colors. Today, our journey was taking us on the Snake River or along the Clearwater River.
Some of us got on board two large jet boats, eager to go explore the depth of Hells Canyon, and we headed south on the free-flowing part of the Snake River. Beautifully carved columnar basalt walls stood tall against the golden tapestry formed by the dry climate vegetation. We saw a variety of wildlife, such as a couple of bald eagles, some mule deer grazing way up on the side of the hill, and some Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep coming down to the river's edge to take a drink. A couple deer decided to leave Idaho and swam across the Snake River to reach the shores in Washington. It was a beautiful sight to witness.
On our way back we saw some petroglyph that have been carved on the side of the cliff, and the origin and the time frame of this amazing piece of art remain unknown, even to the Nez Perce who are the natives of the area.
The other shipmates went by motor coach up the Clearwater River on the footsteps of the Lewis and Clark's expedition. They had the opportunity to learn some basic outdoors living skills, such as starting fires and braiding cattail fibers into strong ropes.
By the end of the afternoon, both groups met at the Nez Perce National Historical Park.
